Interdependency and Underlying Dimensions of Sensory Textural Characteristics of Selected Foods2

Sensory texture profile data for butters, cheeses, fish gels, frankfurters, peanut butters, raw potatoes, and baked sweet potatoes were subjected to principal component analysis to study the interdependence and the underlying dimensions of the sensory textural characteristics. The results indicated that the character notes used by the panel to describe the texture profile of each product were not entirely independent but formed a pattern of interdependency in the underlying dimensional structure. The texture profile could be described by about ½ the orthogonal factors (underlying dimensions) compared to the original character notes and still explain about 72% of the original variance. It is concluded that the texture profile analysis for each of the products in this study could be simplified by reducing the character notes being evaluated.